Dear Parents,
 
While you are all enjoying the waning days of summer, I wanted to take this opportunity as I usually do to look back on our accomplishments of the past year and let you know about some changes in our staffing.
 
So what are some of the things we were able to accomplish this past year?  
 
Our faculty and staff spent a large portion of the past two years preparing for our Middle States Re-Accreditation.  The culmination of our efforts was a successful visit in March from the Accreditation Team, who took particular notice of the exemplary family-oriented school we have here in Phoenixville.  We expect to receive notice of our re-accreditation this fall when the MS Accrediting Board meets to review the results.
 
During this past school year, we continued our increasing focus on non-fiction in the ELA area with several non-fiction magazines added from kindergarten to eighth grade.  In addition, we chose to concentrate this past year on our writing program, and many of you saw your students using the blue book   , Highly Effective Writing   , as we began using a standard approach to teaching writing from grades K-8.  We saw improved writing scores in our Terra Nova results as an outcome of our efforts.  We will continue with this program this school year. 
 
Our one-to-one technology program continues to grow.  This year our 7   th    graders were each supplied with their own I-Pad, and together with the 8   th    grade utilized 24hr/7day ownership.  The netbook program was expanded to include our 5   th    graders, which allowed each 6   th    and 5   th    grade student to have their own personal netbook with them all day as they move from class to class, giving them continuous access to technology.  We also obtained a classroom set of IPads which teachers in grades K-6 used to expose their students to the apps available on these devices.
 
This year we again entered and continued our winning streak in several extra-curricular contests.  Holy Family students represented us in the Rotary Club of Phoenixville Spelling Bee, where we took three 1   st    place and five other 2   nd   , 3   rd   , and 4   th   place awards.  Holy Family School writers were recognized at the Kiwanis Club?s Annual Patriotic Essay Contest, where for the fourth year in a row, we had two winners.  This year HFS students took the 5   th    grade 1   st    and 2   nd    place in a competition consisting of over 500 essays!
 
This year we continued our Forensics program (the public speaking kind), and our students participated in the Chester County IU?s Forensic Competition!  In the Arts area, four of our students participated in the Archdiocesan 4th ? 6th grade Choral Festival this year, and one of our 5   th    graders, Kasey A, won the PA Knights of Columbus DARE poster contest.
 
Our Math and Science extra-curricular programs earned some bragging rights too! After a successful local science fair here at HFS, (did you know neither Phoenixville nor Spring-Ford participate in the science fair process?) fifteen of our top awardees participated in the Chester County Science fair.  Of those, five of our students received awards there and two of them, Christian S and Wade G moved on to the Delaware Valley Science Fair (this Fair is the level above the Chester County Fair), where over 1,000 students from 13 regional fairs in Delaware, Southeastern PA, and Southern NJ participate.  The Delaware Valley Fair awards over $2.5 million dollars in scholarships, and Wade received special recognition for his project on weather from the American Meteorological Society.  Congrats to these students for all their hard work!  We love to see our students engaged in math and science activities!! 
 
Did you know that our students have done exceptionally well as they prepare to transition to high school?  We have alumni currently in Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Carroll, St. Joseph Prep, Malvern Prep, Devon Prep, LaSalle College High School, Merion Mercy Academy, Mount St. Joseph Academy, Villa Maria Academy, and four public high schools.  Did you know that sixteen of our thirty-one students in the Class of 2014 qualified to sit for the rigorous Neumann Scholarship Exam, and 100% of the students who applied for admittance to private high schools were accepted? 
 
In addition, our graduating 8   th    grade class boasts five monetary scholarship awards from both diocesan and private high schools.  Ryan D received a Four Year Scholarship to Malvern High School; Julianne C and Krislyn M both received a Four Year Scholarship to Pope John Paul II High School; and Keith G received a Four-Year Scholarship to Archbishop Carroll. 
 
Additionally, this year we were excited to share the wonderful news that one of our 8th graders, Michael G, was named a Neumann Scholar!  The Connolly Foundation offers a four-year diocesan high school scholarship to only thirty-seven of the 857 Catholic Elementary School 8   th    graders who were invited to take their scholarship test. Michael was one of the six students selected from the fourteen Chester County schools this year.  We are so proud of all these students for their hard work in obtaining these scholarships and our congratulations and best wishes go out to all our newest alumni!
 
Of course we continued with our efforts to beautify the school, painting the cafeteria and the first floor hallway, and replacing the carpet in the basement hallway with a more sanitary tile.
 
As we keep our eyes on the prevention of school bullying, we continued K-8 classroom specific training from the Chester County Crime Victims Association.
 
Our service program continued to focus on projects that were more meaningful to our students, rather than school-wide projects that adults control.  This past year we initiated our    Open Arms Service Club    to develop service leaders in our 7   th    and 8   th    grade classes.  Among other projects, our students again visited senior centers to play bingo or perform for the guests, gave money to St. Mary?s Shelter, and donated food to PACS and the Patrician Society in Norristown.  It is wonderful to see our students getting personally involved in these efforts. 
 
Our Annual GrandPals day, which included performances by our younger students, a video developed by some of our 8   th    graders, a news program created by some of our 7   th    graders, and escorts by our 8   th    graders, was a success once again!
 
Throughout the year we again held many exciting Home and School events, including our now famous Mother-Son Bowling and Father-Daughter Dance, and many new grade-specific events.  As always, my thanks go out to the entire H&S team who devote hours and hours of their (and their family?s) time to make these events happen.  This year I would like to offer a particular shout-out to our new Home and School co-presidents, Alicia Cahill and Jen Rose.  Alicia and Jen stepped into their roles in September and have worked to re-energize an already robust organization.  I appreciate their commitment and dedication to this important mission.
 
This past year we were excited to launch our new website in September as promised (in large thanks to Cathy Cane!) and heard you enjoyed the new look.  In the spring we began a migration to yet another new database and software system as the diocese asked us to consider moving to a new diocesan-wide system that allows you to view all of your Catholic elementary and high school students via one login.  The new system will also allow us to add attachments to our email blasts (Alleluia!) in addition to some other features.   We expect to go live with the new system this month and give you more information in September.
 
Now on to staffing?..As you have heard, four of our teachers have resigned to pursue new opportunities.  We are grateful to Mrs. Ginny DiRado, one of our kindergarten teachers, who has decided to retire from teaching.  Ginny?s relationship with her students as well as her ability to help them become life-long learners will surely be missed, and we wish her well as she starts this new chapter in her life.  Mrs. Mary Lickfeld, our preschool teacher, leaves us to spend more time focused on her own family.  Mary?s warm, calm, loving presence will be deeply missed by both our youngest students and our newest parents.  Mrs. Darlene Adams, one of our 5   th    grade teachers, has decided to return to the administrative side of Catholic education this fall.  Darlene?s knowledge and sharing of our faith with our 5   th    and 6   th    graders was much appreciated and will be missed.  Mrs. Elizabeth Imms, one of our 8   th    grade teachers, leaves us to spend more time at home with her young daughter.  We will miss the knowledge of math that she shared with our upper grade students, and wish her well in her important role as ?mom?.
 
I am excited to announce that we have some new assignment changes and additions to our staff.  Miss Gabby DeRosa will continue to teach science to grades 7/8, but will become an 8   th    grade homeroom teacher.  Mrs. Kathleen Louden, who has a degree is in secondary math education, will return to full-time teaching as a 7   th    grade homeroom teacher and the 7/8 grade math teacher.  Mrs. Bonnie Delciotto will continue to teach 7/8 social studies, but will increase her Student Support duties and turn over her 8   th    grade ELA responsibilities to Mrs. Jackie Limongelli, who has a degree in secondary english education.   Mrs. Mary Mizii will keep her 5   th    grade homeroom, but will now be teaching 5/6 religion, using her many years of knowledge and experience with Living Stations to enhance the program.  We want to offer our congratulations and best wishes to Mrs. Janet Jones and her husband Adam who have just informed us of the birth of their new daughter, Keira Ann, born August 6!  Janet expects to return to us on November 3, and until then I am pleased to announce that Mrs. Lucy Schratz will be using her degree in education as she fills in for Janet!
 
As many of you may have already heard, Mrs. Norma Hull will join our team full-time as our newest kindergarten teacher.  In addition to her degree in elementary education from Cabrini, Norma brings her reading specialist certification to her new job. 
 
Mrs. Beth Belmont, who has a degree in elementary education from West Chester, will be taking over responsibility for our youngest learners as our new Preschool teacher.  I know our newest parents will appreciate Beth?s eight years of experience in preschool and her nine years of experience in kindergarten, while her students will recognize her love of working with young children.
 
Mrs. Kelly D?Antoni will be using both her degree in elementary education from Louisiana Tech and her K-6 science certificate, as she takes on the responsibility of teaching science for grades 5/6 and becomes the 6th grade homeroom teacher. 
 
Mrs. Jessica Ferguson rounds out our 5/6 grade team as she assumes the roles of the 5/6 grade math teacher and the 5th grade homeroom teacher.  Jessica holds a degree in middle school education from West Chester with a concentration in mathematics, and a minor in mathematics.  Jessica is not only a Holy Family alumna, but is one of a group of honors math graduates that I personally taught for four years, so I am thrilled to have her join our team!
 
I think you will find all of these changes will make our program stronger from preschool to eighth grade.  I know we have gained some wonderful additions and role models who bring a high level of enthusiasm and passion for what they do.  Each of the teachers who are taking on new responsibilities is excited to create a classroom where a culture of learning and creativity thrive and students grow in faith and knowledge.
 
As August rolls quickly along, I hope you are enjoying summer time as a family.  The highlight of the summer for me will certainly be the July marriage of my daughter Katie to her best friend, Ben.  The moments that stand out the most for me during their wedding are the extended family pictures we were able to take (John and I are both the oldest of six!), Katie and Ben with their grandmothers and the love that was obvious there, and being at their Nuptial Mass with 200 practicing Catholics (Katie and Ben went to Catholic grade school, high school, and college, so their friends are almost all Catholic)!  It is family and faith that binds us and keeps us together. 
 
So, remember to keep God in your life, even during vacation.  I hope you think of Him when you see a newly married couple?s love, a brand new baby, an ocean full of screaming, happy children, or a dad building the biggest sand castle known to man as mom relaxes in her beach chair!  Remember, as always, that Our Lord invites us each week to share in His last supper, and taking our children to Mass is an important responsibility we adults have. 
 
Good health and safety are my prayers for all.  See you in September!
 
Blessings,
 
Ann Marie
-- 
Mrs. Ann Marie Braca
Principal
Holy Family School
Christ Centered...Student Focused... Family Driven
221 Third Avenue
Phoenixville, PA 19460
610-933-7562 (school office)
610-933-8823 (fax)
abraca@myholyfamilyschool.org
www.myholyfamilyschool.org